For teachers ready for more
You're already qualified for this work. Get certified as an executive function coach and land your first paying client in 90 days, or we keep working with you at no cost until you do.
If you're a teacher, special educator, tutor or therapist, families are already looking for you.
A few short questions. A person on our team reads every application, and if you're a good fit, you meet with Sean personally.
Meet Sean
In 15 minutes, Sean shares why he left the classroom, how we help educators build coaching practices, and what it's like to work with us.
The part no one trained you for
We've worked with hundreds of educators making this change. Many of them are retiring after long careers, some in their 60s and 70s. Others are mid-career and building something on the side. The steps are the same.
Many educators tell us they're afraid of being salesy. But you've been doing the core of this work your whole career: helping a reluctant student see why a hard goal is worth it, then breaking it into steps they can take. That's what a coach does with a family. The fastest change we see is when members stop thinking “my expertise isn't that valuable” and start charging for it.
Schools don't teach executive function skills. Families are looking for someone who will, and you're already trained for this work. What's missing is the business around it.
What this work pays
For our 2026 EF Coaching Industry Report, we surveyed EFCA graduates who have been coaching for six months or more. Here's what they told us.
Hourly work keeps you renegotiating your value one session at a time. A monthly package gives families a clear plan and gives you income you can count on.
Unpaid meetings before families enroll, and income that resets every week.
Three-month minimum. One simple, virtual offer. Five families on it is about $5,000 a month.
Survey figures are self-reported by graduates. The package is an example structure, and you set your own pricing. Individual results vary. Read the full report
Your 4-month path
Every month has a clear focus and weekly steps. Here's what members have done at each stage.
Seven modules of about an hour each, with quizzes, at your own pace. You pick your finish date, and a Coach Success Manager checks in with you on it. You learn PEMDAS, our order of operations for a coaching session, plus how to set goals students buy into, show families progress and partner with parents. Your first win is your business backbone: who you serve, how you help, who's a fit, and the income you're working toward.
Write your value proposition, package your coaching instead of selling hours, and set up an outreach tracker. About 20 minutes each weekday, with weekends off.
Word of mouth is not a strategy. You build the professional network that sends you families: local professionals and schools, short emails and coffee chats, five small steps a week.
Run discovery calls, offer your package, and book the family before you hang up, with live support every week.
Results here are atypical, and individual results vary.
You're not doing this alone
Take one 20-minute action step each weekday and post your progress in the community. If you don't have a paying client at the end of the 90 days, we build an individualized plan with you and keep supporting you at no cost until you do.
We want joining to feel like coming home: people who care about your success, right alongside you at every step.
Find an EF Coach directory
Every certified member gets a listing on Find an EF Coach, our public directory where families look for an executive function coach near them. It's the only directory dedicated solely to executive function coaches. Each pin below is a coach listed there today.
Hover over a pin to meet a coach
Also on the map, beyond what's shown here: Hawaii, the United Kingdom, Romania, Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore and Australia. See the live directory
Graduate case studies
Classroom teachers, a pediatrician, a tutor and a college professor. Here's what they built.
“Getting my first paying client made me realize I can really do this on my own and build my own business.”
Now serves a steady client load of students from middle school through college.
See her practice“EFCA gave me the structure and confidence to expand beyond what was possible in my college role alone.”
Works with a steady roster of clients online and in person while still teaching full time.
See her practice“It took time to find the answer, but it was simple: I'm a mother… and that perspective matters in this work.”
Combines medical expertise and lived experience to coach elementary and middle school students.
See her practice“What once felt like a limitation has become one of my greatest strengths.”
Expanded her tutoring company into executive function coaching and raised her rates.
See her practice“I wanted to be present for my family and still do meaningful work — and I built a business that gives me both.”
Runs a coaching business with a partner that fits around family life, with the confidence to raise rates.
See her practice“With the right tools and community, I built a coaching business I'm proud of.”
Built a practice that helps students with task management, follow-through and long-term habits.
See her practiceIn their words
“Before joining the Paid Client Challenge, I felt overwhelmed by where to begin, but 30 days in and I've already made progress… Since starting the challenge, I've built my website, begun developing relationships with two referral partners, and connected with an accountability partner who is also starting an executive function coaching practice. Those steps alone have made everything feel much more real and achievable.”
“This course was exactly what I was looking for: the perfect mix of practical approaches to providing EF coaching and getting started with my business.”
“I am learning so much that would normally take me years of trial and error and research.”
“I am blown away by how comprehensive, organized, and most of all, empowering it is. I already feel so informed, prepared, and supported towards my goal of becoming an EF coach.”
“The live sessions kept me moving through the content at an efficient pace, and Sean and his team were very responsive to the questions that were asked during and immediately after each session.”
Results here are atypical, and individual results vary.
Wondering if it's worth it? An educational therapist shares her honest answer, two years in.
Jen Coleman, M.A., CET on building Coaching for College Success.
Is this a fit?
We accept people we believe can land a paying client. That usually looks like this.
What happens after you apply
Answer a few short questions about your background and what you want to build.
A person on our team reviews every application and reaches out within 24 hours if you qualify or we have questions.
If you're a good fit, Sean meets with you personally on Zoom. You map out the practice you want, how you want to spend your week, and the best next step for you.
Enroll on your call and your fifth month of support is on us.
From one educator to another
In 2019, I was a public school special educator with a growing caseload and a young family. When our first child was born, I asked to work four days a week and lined up another teacher to cover my fifth day. The answer was no, and I was moved to a new school. I loved my students, but I knew I could do more for them outside a system that wasn't built for them or for me.
Leaving was harder than I expected. I tried flipping used iPhones and other side gigs that had nothing to do with what I was good at. Then a friend asked me a simple question: you have a master's degree in education, so why aren't you doing something with that? My mom pointed me to a local group of educators in private practice, and at one of the first meetings I heard an educator describe helping students online at $300 a session. That changed everything for me.
I started as an “organization tutor” and reached out to therapists, neuropsychologists and other providers who work with students. They started sending me families. That's the lesson the whole program is built on: word of mouth is not a strategy. A network of professionals who refer to you is.
That practice became Executive Function Specialists, the first California Department of Education-certified organization focused primarily on executive function coaching. I trained team members in my methodology, and five years ago I turned it into a course. That course became the Executive Function Coaching Academy, and we have since worked with hundreds of educators. I think of Natalie, a former tutoring business owner who built one of the most successful coaching practices in South Dakota, and Michelle, who was scared to leave the company she worked for and now gets a steady stream of referrals from neuropsychologists.
There is no legal governing body for executive function coaching and no legally required certification. That's exactly why the quality of your training, and the support behind it, matter so much to the families you'll serve.
If you'd like to get to know my approach first, you can read my book, From Educator to Executive Function Coach. If you're ready to build, apply. I'd love to hear what you're working toward.
Questions
Professionals who want to build a part-time or full-time executive function coaching practice: teachers, tutors, speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, occupational therapists, BCBAs, counselors, educational therapists and learning specialists. We've also certified parents and a pediatrician.
Month 1 is seven self-paced modules of about an hour each, plus quizzes. After that, plan on about 20 minutes each weekday for your action steps. Around that, you get at least three live calls a week plus twice-monthly calls with Sean.
Yes. 57% of the graduates we surveyed coach part-time, and Sarah Zeilstra built her practice while teaching full time.
We cover the investment and payment options on your call, once we understand your goals and whether we're a fit. Payment plans are available.
Four months. Month 1 is earning your certification, and months 2 to 4 are the 90-day paid client guarantee. Accepted applicants who enroll on their call get a fifth month of support free, and renewal is available after that. You keep the coaching workbook for good.
Take one 20-minute action step each weekday and post your progress in the community. If you don't have a paying client at the end of the 90 days, we build an individualized plan with you and keep supporting you at no cost until you do.
There is no legal governing body for executive function coaching and no legally required certification. EFCA is a private training program. Certification is awarded when you complete the program requirements, and our team backs it directly.
Yes. You get our coaching framework and the tools and templates we use at Executive Function Specialists, from intake through progress updates, unbranded so you can put your own logo on them. We sequence it so you build one piece at a time instead of creating everything from scratch.
The program focuses on middle school, high school and college students. Members who work with adults or younger children adapt the same methods to those ages.
We give you a simple discovery call structure and the words to use, and you practice them with us on live calls. Most members find it easier to present one clear package than to defend an hourly rate.
Yes. The program is fully online, and members join from around the world.
Yes. Teams of 5 to 9 get 5% off and teams of 10 to 19 get 10% off, and any team of five or more also gets a private 50-minute Q&A with Sean. Email [email protected].
Enrollment is final and non-refundable because you get immediate access to the full program. That's why we talk with you before you enroll, and it's why the 90-day guarantee exists.
A person on our team reads every application and reaches out within 24 hours if you qualify or we have questions. If you're a good fit, Sean meets with you personally on Zoom to guide and advise you.
Still have a question? Email us at [email protected]
Your next step
A person on our team reads every application. If you're a good fit, Sean meets with you personally to guide and advise you.
Includes our 90-day paid client guarantee.